Zycantival Grand Prix 3

Zycantival Grand Prix 3 is the third edition of the Zycantival Grand Prix, the national selection event to determine the Zycantian representative in the Maia Song Contest. It was hosted in Wanheda on 5 September 2016, in the Griffin Dome. The contest will consist of 6 songs, and the winner will represent Zycantia in the Maia Song Contest 3. The competition was won by Broods, who beat out runner-up Delta Goodrem by 12 points.

Format Change
Due to a legal dispute involving Natasha Bogdanova being removed as an entry in the Zycantival Grand Prix 2 after being confirmed as an entry, the competition was shut down. New ZBC executive Shaniqua "Shaniqua Diva" Stevic announced that she had discovered a legal loophole which enabled the selection process to take place under a different format.

On 16 August, Shaniqua Diva announced that an act would be internally selected and the Zycantival Grand Prix 3 would be held to determine the song they will perform at the Maia Song Contest 3.

On 26 August, following the success of Sofia Carson in the Maia Song Contest 2, Judge Kandace Sydney overturned her decision and allowed the competition to continue in any format, stating that the competition has brought great success to the country and Zycantia's continued success is more important than Natasha Bogdanova's ego. Rumours flooded social media, alleging that Judge Sydney had been bribed with free dildos by Shaniqua Diva. The rumours remain unconfirmed.

Participants
The running order was made public on August 26, 2016.

The recap of the final can be found here.

Returning Entries
Delta Goodrem with "Wings" and Margaret Berger with "Scream" automatically earned the right to compete after finishing second and third respectively at the Zycantival Grand Prix 2.

Guest Performers
The winner of the Zycantival Grand Prix 2, Sofia Carson, opened the show with a performance of her winning song "Love Is the Name".

The interval act was Nanul performing her single, "Mankapartez, Mnas Barov" and a duet with Zycantian singer Lilit Hovhannisyan called "Im Tiknikn Es".

Sirusho performed "PreGomesh", having received twelve points from the Zycantian public in the Maia Song Contest 2. Karmin performed their Arkayvizyon 3 entry "Acapella" and Violet Chachki performed their entry "Bettie" as part of their promotional tour. Sasha performed "Alive" and Katy Perry performed "Rise", their respective entries in Sing It Bitch! 1, as part of their promotional tours. Five Knives performed "Savages" as part of their promotional tour for Björnskfestivalen 3.

Violet Chachki Performance
On 28 August 2016, Violet Chachki was announced as a guest performer as part of her Arkayvizyon 3 promotional tour. Moments later, the Zycantian Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) retracted the statement, sparking outrage on social media. Shaniqua "Shaniqua Diva" Stevic announced that the entry was "pornography" and that the contest needed to remain classy. This outraged fans, with one user tweeting "Shaniqua Diva, quit your position as host if you want the show to be classy #Zycantival3". Five minutes later, Violet Chachki was added back onto the list of guest performers on the official website, with Shaniqua Diva tweeting to Chachki and saying that "I am keen to be the dominatrix in your performance, and I am happy to lend you some of the total bottoms from my Fantasy Parlour if you need them".

Leaked ZBC Video
When the entries were revealed on 26 August, ZBC owner Shaniqua "Shaniqua Diva" Stevic released a statement saying that "the number of entries was reduced to ensure that only high quality songs were allowed to participate". Three days later on 29 August, a video leaked onto social media showing Shaniqua Diva listening to the 16,500 songs that were submitted. Controversially, the video showed Shaniqua Diva saying "do I look like I'm fucked to listen to more than five of these?" and "if 16,000 of these 16,500 entries are seriously from that Natasha Bogdanova slut I am going to bomb all of Zycantia until she fucking dies". Shaniqua Diva took to social media, denying that she was the person in the video and stating that "I am very proud of the songs we have selected for #Zycantival3".